A strong detonation sounded this Sunday in a shopping artery in the city of Istanbul, Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced a “vile terrorist attack” which killed six people and 81 injured, according to a latest assessment.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced, live on television, “a vile attack”. “We consider that this is a terrorist attack due to the explosion of a bomb triggered by a attacker,” said Fuat Oktay, the vice-president.
Turkish interior minister Souleyman Soylu, on Monday, announced the arrest of 46 people on Monday, including part of Kucukcekmece, in the suburbs of Istanbul. Among them, a woman suspected of having laid the bomb and of Syrian nationality recognized the facts, confirmed the Turkish police. She said she had acted on the orders of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and received directives in Kobane in northeast Syria. She was also preparing to “flee in Greece,” added the minister.
The PKK, considered a terrorist organization by Ankara but also by its Western allies, including the United States and the European Union, has since been accused of being at the origin of the Turkish authorities. “Operations continue” to stop other suspects, said the Minister of the Interior.
The attack left six people dead and 81 injured, including two serious, according to a last assessment, given this Sunday evening by Turkish vice-president Fuat Oktay.